Dorn des Todes [Thorn of Death]
by hanekarasu
Summary: Aya falls for the girl which is actually his enemy, and gets caught within their trap. [violence, abuse, explicits although mild for my tastes]~almost done~
1. Prolog [Prologue]

Disclaimers :  
  
Weiss Kreuz isn't mine [KoyasuTakehito owns it…]  
  
This is my first attempt to write a fanfic, so onegai…don't expect much…arigatou  
  
This is still unedited  
  
I don't speak German…so thanks for all the corrections [I do appreciate them…]  
  
Reviews aren't necessary but they will be appreciated!  
  
I don't wanna bore you with other A/N's so I'd shut up…^^ arigatou minna- san!  
  
  
  
***  
  
Soaked with blood, that was what being an assassin was about…  
  
PROLOGUE  
  
'Okasan…'  
  
'Yameru baka!' Brutally he kicked her on the shin. Blood gushed from her side.  
  
There were no tears in her eyes. Pain…? She felt none of it…yet…  
  
He dragged her by her hair to the murky end of the chamber. She clambered on her feet and hands as she followed, wincing as pain surged throughout her body. Her bruises began to sting, and her wounds began to ache. He pushed her to the wall, her body hitting it harshly, painting it red.  
  
Weakly she tried to pull herself up, but to no avail. She staggered to the floor again, her limp arms refusing to hold her up. Yet, she displayed no hint of anguish…and her face marked by an expressionless facade.  
  
'Your mother is dead do you hear! She's dead!' he yelled, slapping her face continuously until it paled.  
  
Darkness enveloped them both…but she could see his menacing eyes burning before her.  
  
'You killed her…' Her whisper echoed across the empty, silent space.  
  
'YOU killed her…' he hissed. 'Your hands are stained with her blood… Do you remember that night when you killed her?'  
  
He lashed out at her again, his heavy boots bruising her shin. He kicked her incessantly...hit her...hit her on her legs...until she felt her femur crack. She cried out, as tears welled up in her bloodshot eyes. 'Iie!'  
  
'DO YOU?' he shrieked in madness.  
  
'I was trying to kill you…' she sighed softly, her whole body going numb with pain. 'But you used her body as a shield…I saw everything…'  
  
He grabbed her hair and twisted it around his hands. 'Your mother was a dirty woman do you understand? She stole my money then went out with other men…she's a whore! She deserves that, like you deserve it too!' He shook her frail body and thrust her towards the wooden floor. 'You're next…'  
  
*  
  
Rain…that was all she could make out of her surroundings. Soft…sweet raindrops glistening on her soaked body…and the water pooled upon the uneven ground. The shower was light, and the dim sun could still be seen hiding behind clouds of gray. Even the trees' leaves spoke of a lovely cascade of water from the blessings of the heavens. The greens sparkled silver with rain. The birds chirped a mirthful song as they flew towards their nests amidst the drizzle.  
  
She clutched her fist and felt warm liquid flow from her palm.  
  
Her eyes were focused on the mound of soil, covered with carmine petals of the Japanese rose...and scattered leaves of the naked trees...  
  
*** 


	2. Rätselhaft Blumenblätter [Mysterious Pet...

CHAPTER 1 - Rätselhaft Blumenblätter [Mysterious Petals]  
  
'Kei-san!'  
  
Hanashiro Kei turned towards the voice, and smiled. 'Reina-san.'  
  
Her friend rushed towards her then casually draped her arm around Kei's shoulders. 'Where you goin'?'  
  
Kei shrugged. 'Nowhere…actually.'  
  
'Hey, you wanna go with me to the flower shop? My granny's sick, I'm goin' to the hospital later. Wanna come?'  
  
'Sure, I don't have homework anyway.'  
  
*  
  
'Hmm…I want that…white one…what's that called anyway?"  
  
'This is a jasmine,' the florist began, touching the supple petals of the small flower. His smile was bright as the yellow flower beside him. 'And I assure you, it is fragrant and pleasing to the senses,' he said suavely. 'For you…it means grace and elegance.'  
  
Reina giggled. 'I see then…how 'bout…that?' she asked, pointing the yellow flower with many petals.   
  
'A chrysanthemum for a desolate heart…I'm sure you would not want this,' he said, dismissing the flower immediately.  
  
'Such irony for a vivid flower,' murmured Kei under her breath.   
  
'By the way, my name is Kudou Yohji at your service,' he said, bowing nobly.  
  
Another florist laughed. Reina turned to look at him. He saluted at her direction with a cute smile upon his face. The wind wafted across his brown bangs. 'Yohji, quit flirting around!'  
  
'Forgive me m'ladies,' apologized Yohji. 'Duty calls.'  
  
He exited and followed the brown-haired guy towards the flower shop, with that funny look on his face.  
  
'I guess you ladies need someone to entertain you for a while,' someone said suddenly.  
  
A boy, their age perhaps, stood before them, grinning. 'Tsukiono Omi, I work here too.'  
  
'Reina. Ketsumi Reina,' introduced Reina. 'I'm looking for a suitable flower for my grandma…she's sick…'  
  
He walked over to the stack of flowers and took a pot of Morning Glory, bringing it to them. 'Morning Glories mean affection. She might like this,' he said curtly, handing her the flowers.   
  
'She would,' Kei agreed, fingering the soft petals of the flower. 'Right Reina?'  
  
'Hai!' Reina stared at the flowers for a brief minute before handing them back to Omi. 'I'd take them.'  
  
Kei's eyes wandered across the shop. Her eyes marveled at the beauty of the flowers, in all shapes...sizes...colors... Silently she wondered how they retain their loveliness in the wandering flower shop such as this one.   
  
Deep in thought, her feet took her around the display of petals. She had recognized a few breeds of plants, but most she knew none about. Then she halted in front of a flower common to their country, Japan. She touched it lightly, a soft smile lingering upon her lips...memories of the past hovering inside her daydreams... The Japanese Rose...the ultimate symbol of---  
  
'Are you going to take those?'  
  
Kei spun around and saw a red-haired guy looking at her while wiping the soil off his filthy hands. His piercing eyes were focused on her own. 'Iie.'  
  
At this he turned around, perhaps because he found no business in her. Maybe it meant leave the flower alone if she wasn't going to buy. 


	3. Auslöser von Intrige [Trigger of Intrigu...

CHAPTER 2 - Auslöser von Intrige [Trigger of Intrigue]  
  
Kei's thoughts shifted to that redhead who ignored her earlier in the morning. She cursed silently, as her eyes gazed blankly at the computer screen, noting his indifference towards her. However, she was not sure if he was plain impudent…perhaps he was, or simply because his nonchalance proved his utmost identity among the florists.   
  
She, despite that fact, could not deny that his facet had intrigued her, his contrast to his fellow workers, and to the world around him perchance. Deep in her she speculated at his personality, although she did not know why. Never had a guy caught her attention as he did.  
  
And she remembered the way he stared at her…  
  
Mentally she kicked herself from her useless contemplation, and focused back on the flashing computer screen as it scrolled characters, which only she could comprehend. To a normal, and less gifted person, it meant numbers, and letters and symbols; but for her kind it meant money, prestige and opportunities.   
  
She chuckled silently, as her target displayed on the makeshift laptop sitting complacently on the rough table. The circumstances seemed to be backing her up, and she believed that fate was too. This was just another ordinary, bleak night of breaking into systems, inserting viruses [especially to those who posed extreme threat to her objectives], and destroying the system itself so it would create no further damage.   
  
At least her job took her mind away from him...for a while that is.  
  
'Kei.' A voice drawled from behind her, disrupting her moment of silence while doing her duties.   
  
She tilted her head towards the voice and glared. 'And you want…' she prompted, lifting a perfectly shaped brow at him.  
  
Not only did he interrupt her wonderful work, if she said so herself, but he also gave her that tingly sense of irritation, which made her lose interest in her work itself.   
  
Her eyes narrowed when she got no reply, but a stupid smile creasing across his face. Annoyed, she turned back to her computer and found all the outputs she had generated, gone. All that was left was the blank blue screen without anything on it but a cursor blinking irritably at her. She whirled around, and found his expression the same as the idiotic cursor on the monitor.   
  
He lifted his finger and ran it across her chin suavely, while keeping that grin plastered on his blood-red lips. His dark blue eyes drooped as he lowered her lips towards hers.   
  
With a disgusted look upon her face she sprang up and slapped him. 'What do you want exactly?' she shrieked, her eyes blazing with fury.  
  
He shook his head lightly, and rubbed the sore spot on his cheek, his smile undaunted. 'I was just teasin',' he reasoned out, ruffling his thick disarray of hair. 'So…what you got?'  
  
Rolling her eyes, she settled back to her damaged chair marked by rips and slashes. She shifted uncomfortably on her seat and resumed to hacking the company assigned to her that night. 'You erased it all...baka....'  
  
'You're patient. I'm sure you'd get there again,' he whispered to her ear before moving away from her and resting her back on the adjacent wall. He observed her sullenly, the smile faltering.  
  
'Yes but I do not want to be abused,' she retorted. 'Now if you please…' She continued clicking the keys speechlessly until she found what she wanted. His eyes were still focused on her, unwavering…  
  
Seconds ticked minutes by…  
  
*  
  
The night crawled noiselessly across the city of Tokyo, shifting its murkiness across the streets, houses and buildings scattered about, and upon the people, which resided on its lavish grounds.  
  
A slight drizzle showered upon the dark. For normal people it meant the typical indoor activities---TV for couch potatoes, board games for those who were bored, phone calls for those who loved to chat, food for the gluttons…  
  
For the Weiss it meant indoor activities too. However, they were not as typical as could be considered.  
  
Yohji sat motionlessly on the couch, playing with the cigarette lying idly upon his lips. A thin smoke rose from its tip, and warm ashes glowing red scattered on the floor. The young Omi's eyes were as usual focused on his laptop's monitor, as he hit the keyboard fanatically, barely glancing away from the screen. Ken was busy watering the plants…he could find nothing better to do. Ran seemed engrossed with his gleaming katana, and predictably looking as if deep in thought. His back rested upon the back of the couch Yohji was sitting upon.  
  
The screen before them flashed static, until Manx's form appeared, sheer smile curved upon her full lips. Her arms cradled a brown clipboard. All the boys' eyes turned towards her.   
  
'We have a mission,' declared Manx, in her usual commanding tone.   
  
The display transited to the veiled form of Persia; all but his manly form could be distinguished from him, not to mention his authoritative voice.  
  
'White hunters of darkness, hunt the futures of the dark beasts,' he began seriously. The screen changed once more, now brute images of people flashed one after the other. Violence…just some other mission…nothing seemed to surprise the Weiss, not gore, nor the atrocity vividly shrieking on the screen before them.  
  
Their expressions remained apathetic.  
  
'Drug smuggling companies are growing largely by the moment,' Persia continued.  
  
'So what else is new,' mumbled Yohji.  
  
'And one reached its peak of growth that the government is already taking precautionary measures against them,' Persia went on. 'Because of this, several government spies were murdered in an ambush as they were supposed to execute their undercover mission.'   
  
Pictures of dead cops sprawled on the wet ground flickered on the monitor.  
  
'These drugs are highly addictive in nature, and their buyers are increasing as of this moment. However, its consumers do not know the side effects of these drugs. Certain chemicals are added to the drugs, while making the user addicted to it, the same time corrupting its user's immune system.'  
  
'Like HIV…' Ken's voice trailed off.  
  
'In approximately two weeks after intake, the user suffers, and it eventually leads to death.' Persia paused for a while then resumed. 'Antidotes are available in these illegal stores, however these are exploited by the makers of the drugs themselves. While the society of drug users grow dependent on the addictive drug known as Opium VII, and discover its destructive consequence, they seek for a solution without giving up the intake of the drug. Thus, those who fail to afford the antidote ceases to exist.'  
  
Manx reappeared on the monitor, looking at the boys intently. 'The mastermind behind all these is former army chief Saigo Tatsuma. He runs this business and protects it from the government, using his vast influence on those who hold power.'  
  
'Isn't he living peacefully in Germany with his wife?' Omi asked. 'I heard that on the news on television years ago after he caught a huge drug syndicate and put him behind bars.'  
  
Manx seemed amused. She chuckled lightly, 'that is the same syndicate we are halting now. He runs the company, and framed someone up so he would not be suspected of illegal works.'  
  
'White hunters of darkness, hunt the futures of the dark beasts,' repeated Persia, before the screen blacked out. 


	4. Zwei Welten [Two Worlds]

CHAPTER 3 - Zwei Welten [Two Worlds]  
  
The Weiss's steps created ripples on the wet ground as they made their way through the large sewer tunnels. Darkness, dampness and stench swathed their surroundings.   
  
'This leads to Saigo's lair right?' asked Ken as he waded across the heel-deep black waters pooling around their heavy boots.  
  
Yohji answered with a laugh. 'You bet all right,' he said. 'Doesn't it smell so perfect?' he commented, sniffing the reek scent hovering in the air. 'Damn, it so matches with my new perfume…and I thought I was supposed to be on a date tonight.'  
  
No doubt. Yohji was a girl-magnet, very suave indeed. Radically speaking, he spent, perhaps half of his life running after girls, or vice versa, and every night he lay with a new lover…well, every other night. His life was based on pleasure, cigarettes and alcohol, girls not to mention, cool clothes…the rest of the Weiss wasn't sure if Yohji was actually serious about being an assassin. Maybe his only motivation was his sinister past. No one knows if he had already gotten over it.   
  
Yohji's candid tone and intentional sarcasm had Ran quite annoyed. He spent the whole time in silence, just as he always did, however he seemed to be consumed deeper in his thoughts than his norm. One can tell just by a glance of his eyes, which were pensively staring at the vastness of the tunnel ahead.   
  
Suddenly the four boys stopped, and Omi looked up. A manhole covered with a steel door was above them, its latch bolted lock the door. It was connected to a rusty set of stair bars attached to the mossy tunnel walls. Omi surveyed the manhole, squinting his eyes at it then back at the other three with approximate calculations swarming in his thoughts.  
  
'It's closed, if that isn't obvious enough,' he said automatically. 'Good thing is, we can open it…bad thing is, chances are they would know we'd be visiting.'  
  
'Hai,' agreed Ken, furrowing his brow. 'Opening it sure will be noisy. So…where does it lead to anyway?'  
  
Omi opened the map clutched in his gloved hands. He shook it for a moment and examined it quietly before answering. 'That leads directly to the artillery stock room,' he replied.  
  
'That has to be good,' said Ran, speaking for the first time. 'Sure doesn't sound like a busy place to me…'  
  
'It isn't,' confirmed Omi. 'Lets just hope no one is in the stock room at this very moment.'  
  
Yohji chuckled, sounding quite amused. 'We can always silence them when necessary anyway,' he said.  
  
*  
  
'Saigo contributes too much to our market to let go of.'  
  
She shifted her eyes from her boss to Jin, her 'lover'. He loved her all right…or rather probably mistook lust for love. He was fond of making those moves at her, making her sick of course, but she never got tired of the attention he offered. Although she despised him as much as she despised...[she dared not think about it], it was fun to have him around…at times anyway.   
  
As of the moment his eyes and ears were all tuned to their boss, codename Falke. He seemed to be intently interested in Falke's words, contrary to his usual self-centered, indifferent, derisive self. His smile faded to the abyss of his serious pretense, while he listened and stared fixedly at Falke.   
  
She could not deny however, he wasn't all bad looking. In fact he was gorgeous, if she said so herself. His tresses was jet black, always flawlessly gelled atop his head, with a few wisps hanging limp from the top of his forehead to his thick brows. He had the most sinful eyes, and a gaze as deep as the mystery, which bound his smile. His mouth was thin and set, barely revealing any other emotion than passive pleasure. Tall and muscular was his body, tanned by the sun, shaped by everyday workout.   
  
Then he caught her staring at her.  
  
For a split second he snickered, then went back to more important business. His sudden change of features stole her back to reality, and she felt blood rush to her cheeks. Her humiliation triggered a sudden surge of anger through her, knowing she had added to this jerk's massive ego again.   
  
'Kei.'  
  
Kei jerked toward Falke, who was facing her with a glare. 'Where have you been?'  
  
Some guys snorted.  
  
She scowled. 'Hai?'  
  
'I said you need to be involved in espionage on Saigo's territory and safeguard that market from the dogs,' he practically growled. 'I want you to do that job since you are a woman…'  
  
Inwardly she felt annoyed at the apparent chauvinism.  
  
'…and the youngest. They would hardly suspect you,' he continued, giving her a sharp look.  
  
Obediently she nodded. 'Hai.'  
  
*  
  
Finally the last of the four, Yohji, climbed out of the sewage, into the darkness of the stock room.  
  
*  
  
Saigo's lair wasn't at all a welcoming sight.  
  
It was an old warehouse in the middle of urban Tokyo, almost hidden behind tall, industrialized buildings. Most people didn't even know it existed. Most people didn't even care if they knew it did. For most who knew, it was nothing but a crappy old place for stray cats to live in.   
  
The perfect place to hide smuggled goods.  
  
Kei rounded the building's outer walls for signs of any intrusion. She rolled her eyes, wondering what she would be doing if it weren't for this task. She probably would be sitting in a Jacuzzi with her friends in a spa…enjoying life while it lasts…but this was inevitable. It was either do or…die.  
  
Her footsteps were barely heard as she sneaked into the front door of the warehouse. Saigo Tatsuma's welfare shouldn't be much of her concern, for her he was only a millionaire buyer who purchases almost all of their stocks and sells them at...who knows where. There were still a lot of millionaire buyers out there…what difference would it make if he died suddenly.  
  
However Falke forbade her to meddle with Saigo's personal businesses---that is if he was about to be assassinated in front of her eyes, she had to do nothing and just report what she saw. It would be far more dangerous, Falke told her, since if she got caught, it meant more trouble. She wasn't alone though, if there were people to save the poor Saigo from the hands of his death, it would be Jin and the rest of her accomplices.  
  
Perhaps Falke did not trust Kei enough to protect Saigo literally. 


	5. Feindlich [Hostile]

CHAPTER 4 - Feindlich [Hostile]   
  
'His room has to be on the second floor,' Omi said through gritted teeth as they crawled across the ventilation shaft, which connected all floors of the three-floor warehouse. The air was warm inside, and their breathing caused the walls to moist. He felt as if there was insufficient supply of oxygen inside, for the rest of the Weiss were breathing heavily the thin air.   
  
Yohji cursed, 'Damn.' Apparently he was having a hard time as well, creeping across the narrow, creaky and rusty old pipes.   
  
Their tiring excursion was almost over. Through a net-covered opening, Ken spotted two men in military uniforms, surveying the empty area. Their hands carried machine guns, and their expressions were grim and hard. Quietly, except for the heavy sound of their boots, they paced the hall back and forth…back and forth…  
  
'Saigo has to be in that room,' hissed Yohji, pointing at the door at the end of the hall.  
  
Omi nodded. 'Hai. Let's go.'  
  
*  
  
'Shichiro-sama,' a guard saluted at Jin as Jin approached the door to Saigo's room.  
  
'Is Saigo around? I mean…Saigo-sama,' Jin corrected himself automatically.  
  
'Hai. Did you schedule an appointment?'   
  
'Iie. This is an emergency. I have to talk to him as soon as possible,' replied Jin, getting impatient with the guard standing by the door of Saigo's business room.  
  
'Onegai, he has a visitor and has to be entertained first,' the guard apologized. 'I suggest you come back later, after an hour at most.'  
  
*  
  
Kei would not believe her eyes.  
  
As she peered from behind the heavily tinted glasses of Saigo's office, she saw him brutally murdered by four men, as his guest scampered away to the back door in a desperate escape.   
  
No one could see her, she was sure…the window from which the glass was attached was small enough not to be noticed, and the glass was colored intensely enough to hide herself.  
  
She had so terribly wanted to shut her eyes from the violence confined inside the room. The bloodcurdling shrieks of Saigo rang incessantly in her ears, chilling her bones, turning her face pallid. The glimmer of gore, which splattered upon the entire room as his body took a blow after the other, blinded her eyes, draining her of energy.  
  
The slow agony that contorted his face, the pleading in his terrified eyes, the fear radiating from his tormented body…the mercilessness of the assassins….as they twisted a thread-like cord around his neck and dangled him from the ceiling…and the blood, which spurted from Saigo's mouth before his final breath of torture…swept her away from reality…  
  
She felt as if she had just entered a haunting nightmare.   
  
Her hair stood on one end as the influx of events replayed itself in her mind. The shrill cries and deathly moans recurred in her mind madly…over…and over again… She stared ahead, as if on a daze…petrified…traumatized…  
  
What bewildered her more, was the fact she knew the killers…   
  
*  
  
'IIE!!! YAMITTE YAMITTE!!!'  
  
'SAIGO-SAMA!'  
  
Jin was caught startled by the sudden screech coming from inside the room. For a split second he caught his breath, shivers racing across his spine. His face darkened as he regained control of his stunned self. 'K'so…' he muttered under his breath as he ignored the guard and banged open the door.  
  
He held his gun before himself menacingly.  
  
The sight of Saigo's gory body hanging from the ceiling stupefied him.  
  
*  
  
'Intruder alert,' Yohji remarked, smirking at the man holding his gun before him. In a brief instance the sight of Saigo's corpse caught the man off guard.  
  
'Guns would not be needed in this kind of fight,' said Ran, as he sliced the air with his katana, drops of blood splattering on the floor from its steel blade. Forebodingly, his eyes gleamed as the sword in his gloved hand.   
  
The man snickered, hurling his gun to the nearby wall. 'So be it,' he replied, drawing the sword from the sheath slung from his back.  
  
'Its four against one, what chances do you have?' noticed Ken as he wiped the thick red liquid from his claws.   
  
Saigo's body released more blood from the slash in his back. It trickled to the ground, creating a scarlet pool under his cadaver.  
  
'Get lost or be killed,' Yohji warned.  
  
Then five more men appeared from behind the man who stood daringly still. They must be the nasty accomplices. The party was about to begin  
  
*  
  
'Jin-kun, Falke ordered us to leave right now,' Kei's voice hissed from Jin's audio transmitter hidden behind his dark locks. Her tone was apparently trembling.  
  
'Hai.' Jin turned to his men. 'Let's go.' Then facing the Weiss with a glare, he said, through clenched jaws, 'We'll settle this some other time.'  
  
*  
  
'Must've gotten scared,' Yohji commented as the "villains" left. He surveyed the corpse, which still hung from the ceiling, a grimace of disgust shadowing over his features. 'Damn bastard,' he muttered. Shaking his head distastefully, he took a cigarette stick from his coat pocket, placed it upon his lips and lit it.  
  
'Let's go,' Ran told them. He wore his typical serious face again, glaring at nothing in particular. Slowly, he left, his form disappearing into the shadows outside the bloodstained room. 


	6. Dachte [Thoughts]

CHAPTER 5 - Dachte [Thoughts]   
  
Espionage missions were her forte.   
  
'So Reina, how's your grandma?' Kei asked out of the blue one day, as they walked home after school. Kei and Reina were schoolmates at Hosei University, Kei taking up computer science, Reina taking up engineering. They basically had the same schedule except for Tuesdays and Thursdays when Reina finished earlier than Kei.  
  
Unknown to Reina, Kei's classes lasted shorter than hers. For instance during Fridays, when Reina and Kei would seem to be both dismissed at 5 pm, Kei was dismissed an hour earlier. There were certain things Kei did, which her best friend knew nothing of.  
  
Reina grinned. 'She'll be leaving the hospital in two days,' she replied. 'Arigatou.'  
  
Kei remained quiet.  
  
'You look deep in thought,' noticed Reina, looking at Kei worriedly as she stopped in her tracks. 'Daijoubu? Is there something wrong?'  
  
Smiling weakly, Kei replied, 'Nani?' She shook her head. 'Iie, I'm just tired.'  
  
'Kei-chan…' Reina wrapped her arm around Kei's shoulders. 'Hontou ne?'  
  
'Hai hai Reina-chan,' she insisted, nudging Reina on the ribcage. 'Say, you didn't walk home with me yesterday! Where were you?'  
  
Reina burst out laughing. 'Kei-chan, you are not feeling well. It was a Tuesday yesterday. We don't walk home together on Tuesdays,' she reminded her friend pointedly. 'Look Kei-san, you can trust me. Tell me.'  
  
The events three days ago reran itself in her mind. 'Nothing, really.' Kei flashed Reina cheerful smile, forcing it to look as genuinely believable. 'So…where did you hang out yesterday? You know…I've been noticing something about you lately… You seem blooming…'  
  
A blush rose up Reina's cheeks. She giggled. 'Kei-chan!'  
  
'Is there a guy involved?' Kei teased, grinning mischievously. 'Huh? Is there?'   
  
Reina giggled even more. 'Uhm…sonna…' Her voice trailed off. Kei could see her friend's eyes were twinkling dreamily. 'Well…'  
  
'Hmm…let me guess…' Kei squinted and pretended to think, although she already knew who it was. 'Yo…Yoshi? Youjin? You…'  
  
'Yohji,' Reina interrupted, suppressing her laughter. 'Kei! You know me too much!' she squealed in delight, causing the bystanders to stare at them.  
  
The horrid image of Yohji twisting the cord around Saigo's neck, before lynching him up the ceiling flashed itself in Kei's mind. Shivers raced up her spine as goose bumps pinched her skin.   
  
The afternoon air blew slight gusts across the bustling terrain. She stole herself from the chasm of her thoughts.  
  
She forced a laugh. 'Sou ka…how long have you two been together?'  
  
Reina flushed deeper. 'Not long really…we just…you know…' she stammered, barely trusting herself to speak.  
  
Kei nudged her friend at the ribcage, a teasing glint in her eyes. 'C'mon! Speak!'  
  
'Stop strangling me!' Reina exclaimed. 'Kei-chan!'  
  
'Hai, Hai Reina-chan. So, you wanna visit them or something? Don't you have a date lined up for tonight?' Kei asked, moving away from Reina and putting her hands on her hips.  
  
'Actually we scheduled it three days ago, unfortunately for me, he cancelled for some unknown reason,' explained Reina bitterly. 'Oh but that's okay, he shifted it to tomorrow. Besides you won't be there to walk me home so he volunteered.'  
  
*Three days ago...* Kei's mind wandered momentarily again. She kicked herself mentally for not thinking straight. Kei frowned. 'So…ditch me for some flower guy?'  
  
Reina laughed. 'Oh Kei-chan…look, can we visit him tonight?'  
  
'Sure,' Kei replied. 'Won't their shop move somewhere else?'  
  
'Iie. He said for about a week or two they would stay there.'  
  
*  
  
'Yohji-kun!' Reina sang as she peered into the flower shop with a bright smile on her face. Night was creeping fast, and a few stars could be seen dangling in the velvet black skies.  
  
Yohji appeared from inside the shop, half startled to find Reina there. 'Reina-san!'  
  
Reina's smile widened. 'Hai.'  
  
'I see you've brought your friend along,' noticed Yohji as he saw Kei hiding behind Reina. 'Moshi moshi!'  
  
'Oyasumi nasai,' greeted Kei curtly, bowing. She smiled mischievously. 'I guess I better leave you two alone.'  
  
*  
  
The target was at the tip of Omi's hands.  
  
He had doubts about Saigo being the brains behind the drug smuggling operation. He felt as if some more powerful force was behind it. And it turned out he was right.  
  
He had cracked smuggler's database and was currently copying the important files into his system. Evidence was needed…of course.  
  
*  
  
Reina had called her back, however Kei refused. She had better things to do than mingle and meddle with two people she had rather not disturb. Lovers…yeah right. Her only purpose was to pry around...as tasked by Falke.  
  
She rounded the corner where the wheeled flower shop was parked. She found a small street in the middle of two brick-buildings on the other side of the road. The lane was murky and slightly damp. The faint scent of rotting garbage and moisture filled her nostrils. She winced lightly as she carefully made her way through the shadows, her steps creating soft, squishy noises under her feet.  
  
There was pale light at the end of the path. Hurriedly, she walked towards it, peering for the unexpected. A sudden rush of excitement surged through her body.  
  
*  
  
Fujimiya Ran reclined on his back, upon the supple, green grass, which covered the riverbank, and gazed impassively on the stars glistening in the skies. Thoughts swarmed profusely in his mind: about life…life and more of his life.  
  
In his silence he envied the other three Weiss.   
  
Omi's character slowly unsheathed itself in his mind. A computer genius…or rather a computer freak…a whiz archer…or rather a hawk-eyed kid… Omi was so defined. His abilities were so carved intricately in him that he could not be mistaken for another Weiss member.  
  
Next was Ken. The soccer player…with immeasurable sweetness which made Ran doubt if Ken really was fit to be a Weiss…the charming gentleman which attracted ladies of all sorts… And again, a personality so unique…and a talent distinct in only the gifted ones. Like Omi's talents.  
  
Then Yohji. Girl-hunter and vice versa, the bad-boy, the debonair-boy… If getting which girl he wanted was to be considered a skill, Yohji was certainly full of it. He lived in the limelight such as the other two, because of such endowments sole to themselves.  
  
Followed by Ran himself. Stayed in the shadows…assassinated the hounds of Japan…avoided all sorts of attention…never smiled…did he really want this?   
  
Resentment swelled in Ran's heart. 


	7. Gedächtnisse [Memories]

CHAPTER 6 - Gedächtnisse [Memories]  
  
The task, the Weiss found out, wasn't over. The death of Saigo turned out to be the beginning of something more complex than they expected. And the Weib's omen proved to be the intruder that night Saigo got murdered.  
  
The strident sound of the motorcycle driven by Ken filled the noise around them as it drove alongside the Weib's jeep, in which Omi, Yohji and Ran were aboard. The Weiss's pursuit was a black Benz speeding before them. Shichiro Jin, the intruder, was inside the vehicle, and he was next in line for Weiss assassination.  
  
The motorcycle sped up, until it was parallel to the black car. Ken raised a handgun, and began firing at the car's window. The car swerved wildly on the road until it hit a lamppost. The shrill sound of screeching wheels died down. However, the ammunitions left only dents in the car's bulletproof window.  
  
Silence.  
  
The Benz revved up its engine once again. Recklessly it hit Ken's motorcycle, then the jeep. Yohji hastily launched a few bullets, aiming at the wheel, but missed. Clouds of dust and smoke trailed behind the Benz as it dashed away from them.   
  
The Weiss followed the car's tail closely, refusing to give up.  
  
The moon rays shone luminously above the racing vehicles. The black car led them deep into a forest-bound road, away from the city-lights of evening Tokyo, where darkness ruled except for the light of the automobiles. Murkiness camouflaged the black car as it turned its lights off, perhaps hoping to shake the Weiss from its trail.   
  
Then it disappeared into the sinister night.  
  
The Weiss slowed down. Only the sound of their tires could be heard. For about half an hour they groped around the shadows, until an unkempt mansion came to sight.   
  
*  
  
The four members of Weiss entered the uncanny manor; their keenness pushed to the extremes, cautious of every sound audible, every movement visible.   
  
The main hall was murky except for the few flaming torches; which hung upon the walls. Silence shrouded the mansion's interior, but the soft sound of footsteps. As they moved forward, they came about three passageways, which led deeper to the seemingly unfortified house.   
  
As if on unspoken agreement, Ran took the left corridor, Yohji took the middle and Omi and Ken took the right.   
  
*  
  
The passage led to a hall of mirrors.  
  
The undisputed light inside blinded Ran temporarily. As he walked, all he could see was his reflection, in all angles, rebuking him of a disguised threat. He took a step after the other vigilantly, his sword grasped in his gloved hand, his eyes narrowed.  
  
At the corner of his eye, he saw movement flashing across the mirrors. On impulse he turned, however the presence he felt seemed to be just his imagination. He breathed out heavily, and continued to tread his way across the hall.  
  
Still, nothing but mirrors…and reflections…  
  
Then at the most unexpected moment, the glass crashed down behind him and he spun immediately, his trench coat creating a gust of wind revolving around him The sudden noise was deafening as it pierced the quietude which once hovered about the place.  
  
Ran launched an attack without much thought. He thrust his sword toward the unsuspecting intruder, but emerged unsuccessful. The intruder leapt into the air and landed behind him expertly, and before he knew it, he felt a pistol aimed at the back of his head. Somehow, his katana ended up in the intruder's hands…the intruder got it so quick that he did not even feel his sword leave his grip. Through the mirror he figured it was a woman who caught him…not just any woman though…  
  
Kei.  
  
*  
  
* * *  
  
The last thing she expected to find was he. Stealthily, she hid behind the tree, which was a couple of meters away from him and watched him in stillness. His eyes were focused overhead, and his thoughts seemed bottomless. He rested on the grass motionlessly, oblivious to the world.  
  
She had to admit he was a beautiful sight. His red hair lay disarrayed on the ground, and his body looked a cross between tense and relaxed. His form glowed in the moonlight with the midnight blue river as background. Eyes void yet wistful, visage unresponsive yet caught in illegible dreams…   
  
Like a magnet she felt herself drawn to his enigma even more.  
  
* * *  
  
*  
  
'Aya!' Omi cried out, turning around as soon as he heard glass shattering in the distance.   
  
Ken caught his breath and hurried across the corridor toward where Ran headed for. 'How do you know Aya's in danger and not Yohji?' Ken asked, out of breath. The hall seemed longer than when they were walking through it.  
  
'I saw the light reflecting from the direction Aya took,' replied Omi anxiously. 'I just hope he is all right.'  
  
Suddenly three ninja-looking men sprang upon their path. Signal for trouble.  
  
'K'so,' Ken cursed under his breath.  
  
*  
  
* * *  
  
'LOOK OUT!'   
  
Kei gasped and spun around as soon as she heard the yell. A red car was speeding towards her. Its intense headlights made her lose her sight temporarily. She felt as if on a trance. She wanted desperately to move out of the way, however her feet would not move, her mind would not work.  
  
In shock she stared helplessly at the threat before her.  
  
Suddenly she felt her body flung into air, and another…warmer than her pallid skin, grab her into his arms away from the danger…away from the speeding car, which caught her off guard.  
  
She felt herself land on the other side of the road, in the arms of an unexpected rescuer. Her whole body felt weak as she squinted up at him…  
  
It was he.  
  
Soft, red hair touched her flushed cheeks; sharp, purple eyes stared into her own…  
  
* * *  
  
*  
  
'Nani?!'  
  
Yohji whirled around, hearing the faint noise of breaking glass from a distant. He stopped, and listened some more…the silence around him becoming deafening. He held his breath, and keened his senses.  
  
For a few moments he heard nothing, but the sound of his racing heartbeat.   
  
Then two shadows crept behind him, their swords gleaming against the radiance the dim torches made.  
  
*  
  
* * *  
  
A dark-haired guy moved toward the girl Ran had just saved. He lifted his body from hers, and she was left sitting, bewildered, on the ground.  
  
He kneeled beside her and ignored the guy, now approaching even closer.   
  
'Daijoubu?' the guy asked, holding out a hand to pull the girl up. She stared at it momentarily, but took it anyway.   
  
Then the dark haired guy kissed her.   
  
-That's…- Ran had not the nerve to finish the sentence, as he glimpsed at the 'couple' and walked back to the store. He knew the guy damn well…  
  
* * * 


	8. Gefangen [Captive]

CHAPTER 7 - Gefangen [Captive]  
  
Being held captive had Ran surprised.  
  
The chains, which bound his hands, dangled from the ceiling…the shackles attached to his feet clanked underneath him…and blood trickled from the gashes in his back.  
  
Fatigue drained the energy from his body. Pain made his situation even worse.  
  
For quite a few hours he had been locked up inside the manor's basement. One way or another he ended up there…the events cluttered in his mind…swirling…swirling…  
  
*  
  
* * *  
  
All he could feel was the gun aimed at the nape of his neck.  
  
'Kei-chan,' he said quietly. 'You---'  
  
'Nice job Kei,' someone interrupted. Jin.  
  
Ran glared at him from the corner of his eye. It was so easy to knock the two of them down, but Ran could not budge…at all…as if some force field was preventing him from doing it.   
  
Somehow he willed her to take him. Suddenly it was pointless to fight.  
  
* * *  
  
*  
  
'K'so…' Yohji muttered under his breath.  
  
'I wonder why they captured Aya…' said Ken as he paced around their hideout thoughtfully. 'And why he didn't fight them back…so not Aya…'  
  
Omi felt he couldn't hide the truth any longer. 'They want something from us.'  
  
'And what is that?' Yohji asked, suspiciously looking at Omi. 'What have you been doing young man?'   
  
Sweat trickled from Omi's temples. 'Well…I hacked into their database and---'  
  
'Without consulting us?' Ken cut Omi off, feeling frustrated all of a sudden. 'What made you do that?'  
  
'Baka!' exclaimed Yohji aggregately. 'So what did you do EXACTLY?'  
  
'Well…I found out…certain…certain things…' Omi stuttered. Suddenly he looked like a little kid. 'Their mastermind…et cetera…' He kept avoiding all the other Weiss's glares. 'Copied the shipment's schedule to my database…' Omi's voice trailed off.  
  
'And?' prompted Ken distrustfully.  
  
Omi sighed. 'Well…I deleted it from their system…' he confessed.   
  
'So you have them and they don't?' Yohji concluded. He was getting tired of this.   
  
'Hai…hai…hai…' Omi admitted exasperatedly. 'And maybe I left traces of myself too in their system…' He sighed again. 'Maybe that's how they found out I hacked it. However I left a virus so they would not be able to order shipments from Hongkong, which I found out was the main source of the drug, then I cut the formula from their system and pasted it to ours since it was impossible for me to copy it...there was this certain program preventing copying of the formulas...well perhapsI didn't---'  
  
'What?' Ken cut Omi off as gaped at himi, jumping from his chair. 'The hell! What were you thinking? No wonder why they are damn mad...'  
  
'Look it's over and done. Maybe we can return it and they'd release Aya!' Omi practically shouted.  
  
'It's not that easy Omi,' explained Ken, sinking back to the chair. 'But we'd get Aya back…besides he can take care of himself…'  
  
*  
  
The light from the end of the cellar flickered on. It blinded Ran temporarily. The basement remained dim, however after being in hours of darkness, the low-wattage bulb was enough to hurt his eyes.  
  
Jin entered, along with Kei and some others. Ran assumed the man wearing a black suit was their leader.  
  
'Sir,' Jin said, smirking at Ran. 'He's one of them.'  
  
The man in a suit snickered. 'It so seems.' He looked at him from head to toe. 'Tortured him enough?'  
  
The other guys laughed wickedly.  
  
'I guess it would be better for me to interview him for a while,' said their leader, with that glint in his eye, which gave Ran shivers.  
  
*  
  
Kei was positive Ran could see her and Jin making out the darkest corner of his cell. She could not refuse to Jin however…she felt as if it was her job to pretend she was having fun with the touch of his lips on hers.  
  
One of his hands was tousled in her soft, dark hair. The other cradled her neck as he kissed her. She was underneath him, as they lay upon the soft cushion, the only thing that decorated the murky room.   
  
His hand released her hair, and was now caressing her bare legs. Up and down…back and forth… She shifted beneath him, and pushed him slightly. It was more than she bargained for, and she wasn't the least bit happy about it. But he didn't stop. His kiss intensified, passion overflowing, until his hand was back into her dark locks.  
  
She wrapped her arms behind him as his lips nuzzled her neck.  
  
Falke was still busy asking Ran questions…questions Ran didn't bother answer. However at the sound of it, Falke was having a good time mocking Ran, and tormenting him even more.  
  
Kei felt thorns pierce through her heart.  
  
And she felt Jin too, moving sensually above her.  
  
And Ran's attention locked on them. 


	9. Verlassenen [Forsaken]

CHAPTER 8 - Verlassenen [Forsaken]  
  
* * *  
  
It had been three months since Sakura left for Okinawa to study. Her father got a good-paying job in that place and she was forced to leave. Ran did not say anything to hold her back, however, he did question why she had to leave and how long she would be staying there.   
  
True, it had been painful to watch her go, but he had no other choice. Besides, his work was far too dangerous for her; he knew he would rather have her gone and safe than with him and in peril. Yet he did not deny the fact he loved her, more than he thought he would.   
  
Then he met Kei. Perhaps it was the memories of his loved ones that brought him to consider meeting other people, to fill up the hollow in his heart at least. It was very unusual for him to visit the racetrack where Sakura used to run. He was thankful he did though, for Kei was there, the same girl who filled up his mind since the accident in the flower shop, where he saved her.  
  
Where his deemed enemy kissed her.  
  
'I used to be a good runner,' she was saying, while licking her ice cream. 'I used to collect medals when I was in Junior High.' She had so reminded him of Sakura. They used to eat ice cream together too while talking about her life. He could still remember…that was the time she got kidnapped…and he used her to accomplish their mission.  
  
She grinned at him brightly. 'You?' she asked. 'How come you like the track?'  
  
Her question caught him by surprise. He never thought he would meet another girl whom he would spill his guts to besides Sakura and Aya. 'People,' he replied.  
  
She blinked.  
  
He dismissed her question immediately. He did not want to talk to her about Sakura---not to HER. 'Why did you stop running?' he diverted.  
  
'Weak leg muscles,' she said as if it didn't bother her much. 'I stopped to recover but I never did. The damage was too severe. With that I quit my Martial Arts lessons too, but that's okay.'  
  
'How did you get that sickness?'   
  
'Childhood problems…it's a long story,' she said. 'And I don't want to remember it now.'  
  
* * *  
  
*  
  
'Shhh,' she silenced him, resting her finger on his bleeding lips.   
  
He lifted his eyelids indistinctly and blinked at her. Until she woke him up, he lingered unconscious, still dangling on his chains.  
  
'Na---'  
  
'Don't say a word,' she interrupted as she ran a finger across his crimson cheek. Blood stained her index finger, but she remained unmoved. Her stare stayed straight into his…straight…deep…as if hidden meaning lingered beneath her hazel eyes.  
  
Quietly as she could, she unlocked the manacles, which chained both his wrists. She had his head upon her shoulder to support his limp body. Then she repositioned him upon the wall behind him as she bent to release his ankles.   
  
Then she cupped his cheek and caressed it with her thumb. 'I'll get you outta here…'  
  
*  
  
At least Ran had enough strength in him to stagger while leaning on Kei out of the dark basement. He did not know why he did so…trusting her was a big issue but with his current pace of mind, nothing else seemed to matter anymore.   
  
Somehow she led him into a furtive tunnel, but he could not recount what exactly happened and how they got there. When his conscious brain suddenly started functioning a little properly, they were already treading their way into what seemed to be a damp inland waterway.  
  
'Daijoubu desu ka?' asked Kei as she worriedly looked at him upon halting momentarily.   
  
Exhausted he rested himself upon the tunnel's walls with his head upturned. The wounds from the lashes he got were stinging his back [which she had now covered with a white shirt], and pain dragged him out of moving on.  
  
'Kei-san...' he practically whispered, staring at her directly in the eye. 'Why?'  
  
'What do you mean?'   
  
'This… Is this a trap?' His voice came out hoarse as he heaved a heavy breath.  
  
'Iie…'  
  
'Then why?'  
  
'Why what?'  
  
'You mean you are helping me?' he tried to clear out. Then suddenly he coughed out blood and started sputtering with his hand covering his mouth. His eyes squeezed shut; he gulped painfully, his other hand clutching his stomach, which had been beaten up badly.  
  
She winced and turned away. 'Gomen nasai…'   
  
'Kei-san…'  
  
*  
  
'KEI!'  
  
An hour had already elapsed when Falke and the others found out about the unanticipated escape by Ran led by Kei herself. The fact had, at once, startled Jin; for it was not something Kei was capable of, much less intend to do.  
  
Or so he thought.  
  
Falke had been fuming wildly within the manor since the information had been sent to his dispatch. However it seemed he was not exactly surprised. 'Little girls…what can I say?' he had muttered under his breath as he trudged steadily toward the basement to confirm the unproven reports. When he had seen it for himself, his madness overflowed. Even Jin feared his master's sudden outburst of fury.  
  
Anger burned steadily in Falke's eyes as he grabbed Jin by the collar and pierced Jin's eyes with his. 'Where is she?' he hissed.  
  
'I do not know,' replied Jin, keeping his voice calm as possible. Kei had to be inside the manor…somewhere…  
  
Yet the fact Kei had been spending some time with Ran had him alarmed. What if Kei had fallen for the redhead…? It wasn't beyond possibility…  
  
Irately Falke flung Jin to the walls. Seething, he turned to his other men and fiercely breathed. There was still fire in his eyes. His face contorted like that of a furious lion's. 'I want that girl here, dead or alive…do not kill the man. We have to settle scores with his damned group,' he said through gritted teeth.  
  
*  
  
* * *  
  
A black car parked amid the drizzle.  
  
'Who are you?'   
  
'Falke is my name, or so they call me…and you?'  
  
'Kei…'  
  
'Kei?'  
  
'Hai…'  
  
'What are you doing in the rain?'  
  
'Nothing…'  
  
'There's blood in your hands…yet no tears are in your eyes…'  
  
'I know.'  
  
'That is not good. Worry not, I'll take care of it for you.'  
  
'Thanks.'  
  
'You…you are alone?'  
  
'I guess…'  
  
'Do you have anywhere to stay?'  
  
'Iie…'  
  
'Then perhaps you might want to stay with me?'  
  
'Why should I?'  
  
'Because you are alone…'  
  
No reply…  
  
'I want to be your father…'  
  
* * * 


	10. Die Vergangenheit [The Past]

CHAPTER 9 - Die Vergangenheit [The Past]  
  
A weak shower cascaded over the metropolis in the dark, damp night. The wet roads were scattered of blaring honks of cars, scurrying people in umbrellas and raincoats, and the ever-open city lights of downtown Tokyo.  
  
Fortunate it was for Kei to find her jeep parked in the outskirts of the forest where the manor lay concealed. Its main purpose was for emergency uses, and this incident was certainly no exception. She figured Falke's gang would be hunting her down…their mercilessness should not be underestimated.  
  
Kei knew Falke well. She had served him for more than a decade…since she abandoned her heritage for a free life. Running away with Falke sounded free…but she had always felt a prisoner in his cold realm. Her skills he taught her well, and he had always been her master, however she had never considered him a father although that was what he offered her in the first place.   
  
All her life serving Falke meant to live in cruelty, and to accept it as a way of life…  
  
But her savage past had always agitated her endlessly.  
  
She had considered herself a murderer at the age of nine. For four years her third stepfather had abused her mother, and Kei herself. She had been a battered daughter, receiving countless bruises everyday from his constant blows when he was high with drugs. The situation sounded typical for the modern world, she had always told herself. Watching television she perceived there were conditions worse than hers, hence she accepted her fate.   
  
Her anger's outlet was her passion for running, and she ran miles everyday, pretending to run away from her destiny.  
  
However, when her stepfather had threatened Kei's mother he would kill her, Kei could not resist the temptation to end her stepfather's life with her own hands. Frail and powerless she was, Kei ended up stabbing her mother instead.  
  
Her mothers' death brought Kei to a state of trauma, that she grew numb to pain and to the relentless tormenting of her stepfather. Months crawled by after her mother's mortality, when a sudden feeling of vengeance surged through Kei, and she had ended her stepfather's life as well; with the expense of her dreams, her right leg, which had been badly damaged during their skirmish.  
  
In his grave she swore to detest drugs.  
  
When she got introduced to Falke, however, it was drugs that saved her life. He made her intake a certain drug, which healed and repaired mutilated cells. But her leg never healed completely. With that she had to stop the martial arts lessons Falke was giving her, but she had been too good a student, and had much perseverance that the pain in her leg was eventually ignored when her mind was set on physical activities.  
  
With this miracle she vowed to serve Falke, despite the confusion and fear hovering in her heart. She also made oath not to kill anymore, and to forget and shut her eyes from violence. Perhaps that was the reason Falke rarely gave her field work, and harnessed her talent on hacking instead, and seducing their market's customers to buy more of their products.   
  
Until this moment she had never imagined herself betraying Falke.  
  
It surprised her she did…for someone she barely knew.  
  
*  
  
'We still have an unfinished business to accomplish,' Ken said grimly, fixing the gloves which contained his claws.  
  
'Hai,' Yohji agreed, his face set.  
  
'Hai.' Omi had received a phone call earlier that day, eight hours later after Ran had been kidnapped. He knew what it was for. To surrender the formulas, the copy of the shipment and the removal of the virus inserted in their enemy's system---in exchange for Ran's life. *How typical* mused Omi to himself. He knew Ran better.. He would not make himself a sitting duck for his enemies at all costs.  
  
Although the Weiss did not know exactly what Ran's plan was, they prepared themselves for battle, which was scheduled in the ungodly hours of dusk, in the same mansion where Ran was held captive.  
  
*  
  
Carefully, Kei laid Ran onto the soft mattress of the bed and stared at him for a brief moment. She had brought him to a cheap inn in the middle of the city, where finding them would be most likely difficult.  
  
He stared back at her, blankly.   
  
She was still clad in the clothes she wore when Jin was kissing her in Ran's cell. Knee-length black boots, extremely undersized leather shorts, tight red leather midriffs with plunging neckline…and dark, heavy makeup.   
  
'You haven't answered me yet,' he said weakly.  
  
'I have nothing to answer,' she replied flatly. She placed herself on top of the bed and moved towards him, pulling up his greasy, gory white shirt to reveal his naked torso. He had a long open cut above his waist, about seven inches perhaps, and she presumed he had more in his back. She gulped as she ran her fingers along its edge, and he winced. It must have stung him.  
  
'Wait here,' she said softly, with what it seemed like a gentle smile curling upon her lips.  
  
*  
  
The reason behind why she helped him, Ran could not comprehend. There was mystery even at the sound of her voice. He just lay there, barely believing his fate, and his life, was in the hands of a woman.  
  
She came back shortly after he had almost drifted to sleep. In her hands she carried a basin of water, and a small face towel. Where she got them, he cared not to know. She laid it upon the table beside the bed and sat on the mattress alongside him. Quietly she dipped the towel into the water, squeezed it, and cleansed Ran's wound.  
  
He flinched at the touch of the towel upon his wound.   
  
No words were spoken.   
  
When she was done, she sat him up, and removed the rest of the shirt, which still clung upon his gashed body. She washed his back next, and grimaced at the numerous cuts in his back. Falke had whipped him back in the basement, countless times…and he knew she dared not remember it.  
  
The basin and the towel were laid upon the table. Lightly she took his face with her hand, and turned it towards her. For a brief moment he thought she would be kissing him…but all thoughts were lost when she looked at him kindly.  
  
He had never noticed how beautiful she was as he felt everything about her.   
  
Soft auburn hair...her mystifying gaze…her hazel eyes, which shone luminous against the dim light of the moon…her supple cheeks…the fine slope of her nose…her delicate lips, parted slightly as if inviting a kiss…  
  
And the soft touch of her hand on his face…like the feel of the petals of a Japanese rose…  
  
'Take this,' she whispered, detaching her stare as she lifted a pill to his lips. 'The antidote of the drugs you sought for. In 24 hours your wounds would have almost healed.'  
  
With that she stood up and wandered away from him.  
  
* 


	11. Verlockung [Temptation]

CHAPTER 10 - Verlockung [Temptation]  
  
'There's nobody in here,' remarked Omi as they got back to the lobby. The torches were all put out, and no sign of inhabitation was in the place.   
  
'Somehow I feel like this is a wild goose hunt,' Yohji said.  
  
'This is. What if this is a trap?' Ken asked, looking around cautiously,  
  
'Well that can be possible,' said Omi. 'After all I don't think those thugs would be revealing themselves at once…'  
  
Yohji wandered around the spacious lobby and inspected it closely. 'Wild goose hunt…wild goose hunt…damn,' he cursed under his breath. 'It's been an hour, and they still haven't arrived. So what do you think of that?'  
  
'I feel bad enough already…' Omi said exhaustedly. 'We've been searching this place forever and found no one.'  
  
Ken was already getting exasperated with what was happening. 'Where could they be?'  
  
*  
  
'Found the target,' one of Jin's men said, not lifting his eyes off his computer's screen. 'Midtown Tokyo. Kirei Ryokan.'  
  
An evil grin curled on Jin's lips. 'Ikeso,' he ordered. 'And make sure the rest of the Weiss gets locked in the manor. Bomb them with poison gas…and make certain all of them dies.'  
  
*  
  
Ran blinked to the warm sunlight touching his eyes.  
  
Two days since he got kidnapped…so much had occurred since then…  
  
Then he became aware of Kei sleeping beside him.  
  
'Kei-san…' he whispered softly catching his breath. He pulled himself up, so his elbows supported his upper torso. He ached to touch her, he suddenly realized. Never in his life had he became this attracted to a woman…was it desire? Or love? He did not know…  
  
Tenderly he brushed a few wisps of hair lost upon her cheeks, and tucked them behind her ear. She did not budge. Her sleep must've been too deep. *She slept beside me without me knowing it?* he thought to himself, quite startled by that fact. Yet he could not deny the bliss it gave him.   
  
Perhaps his mind had not been functioning effectively since he got to know her better. He had himself prisoner without any prior reason…he trusted her as he led him to freedom…and now…  
  
Slowly, he brought his lips to hers…soft as breeze…cradling her head with his strong hands… It woke her with a start, surprised with the touch of his mouth, and gasped. However, she surrendered to his lips, and returned the kiss.  
  
Probably Ran had completely lost sanity.  
  
She moved up the bed, so her head rested upon the down pillows as he continued nuzzling her neck. She snuggled comfortably beneath him as his kiss intensified. Liquid fire seemed to surge in his body, as his ardor overflowed. Ran wrapped his arms tightly around her, devouring her mouth, getting lost in the heated sensation…  
  
His heart banged on his rib cage, screaming for him to stop. He knew this was wrong…terribly wrong…   
  
On influx, images of Kei and Jin passionately locked in a private world flashed in his thoughts…of Kei and Jin kissing in front of the flower shop when he saved her…of Kei and Jin mocking him as they held him captive…  
  
Of Kei and himself eating ice cream in the empty track field.  
  
If that made everything right, Ran would want to spend forever lost in this moment…  
  
*  
  
'Iie…'  
  
Ran pushed himself from Kei and stared at her steadily. She had been a real temptation…  
  
It was as if he heard Sakura's voice at the back of his head.  
  
Shutting his eyes, he pressed a palm on his forehead. 'Do you realize what you have just done?' he asked, his eyes pensively staring at nowhere.  
  
'Kiss you?' she asked, confusion present in her voice.  
  
'Iie,' he said quietly. 'Saved me from them…healed my wounds…brought me here… Why?'  
  
Wistfully she smiled. 'Aya,' she began gingerly. 'You're the first man, who ever treated me like a human being…' she confessed, sitting upon the bed and looking at him warmly. There was a sad note in her tone of speaking. 'I've longed for someone like you…and I am thankful I found you…' She looked down timidly. 'I know you do not approve of it…me kissing you…I know all about Sakura…I know how much you love her…I'm sorry…'  
  
He placed no reply. *I know I detest it when women gets extra sweet...* he thought.  
  
'I know a lot of things about you,' she disclosed. 'Gomen nasai…you've been a real temptation…I have always wondered how it would feel to be with someone who accepts me…and I have already felt it, now I am contented…I don't care if this means death.'  
  
'Kei-san…atashi---' Ran's sentence was interrupted by a stream of bullets and broken glass raining from the window beside their bed. Immediately Kei and Ran ducked, and sought shelter behind the bed. Ran's arm was around Kei as he shielded her from the bullets.   
  
The steady hum of missiles filled their ears.  
  
'Jin-kun,' she muttered. 'He found us…'  
  
* 


	12. Fallenstellen [Entrapment]

CHAPTER 11 - Fallenstellen [Entrapment]  
  
'K'so!' muttered Yohji when he found out they were locked inside the mansion. He kept on banging the door open, pulling it, hitting it, kicking it, however it would not budge.  
  
'So this is a setup…' Ken said grimly, staring at the locked door. 'The windows are bullet-proof, and I think this place is made of titanium alloy…if I am right that's the same metal which makes up a rocket…'  
  
Omi sighed. 'What do we do now? The locks are not computer generated, I cannot hack into it and break the codes or something.'  
  
'Look for a way out. There has to be a way out somewhere…' Ken answered, scanning the dark place. Suddenly the lobby looked more like a void of shadows in the middle of nowhere. 'We've been through worse, we can find a way out.'   
  
'And just in case you've forgotten it is your hacking that brought us into this trouble,' Yohji reminded Omi, irritated.  
  
Suddenly, heavy walls fell from the lobby's ceiling and landed on the floor, blocking all entrances deeper into the mansion. The lobby seemed to be a death chamber for all of them. And before they knew it, gray clouds of gas streamed in, fogging their vision as it made breathing hard.  
  
Death was just a couple of hours away.  
  
*  
  
Ran's breath sped up.   
  
'I wonder how they found us…' Kei mumbled to herself.  
  
'Are you sure you didn't call them here?' Ran asked, staring straight at Kei's bewildered face. 'This is not another trap or is it?'  
  
'I knew you wouldn't trust me,' she replied in a small voice. 'But I didn't call them here nonetheless. They found us, perhaps because of some transmitter one of us has. I am not sure if I accidentally brought mine, or they placed one in your body.' She planted a kiss on his lips. 'Wait, I didn't come here unarmed.'  
  
He looked at her, startled as she crawled toward the other side of the room. The feel of the kiss was still in his mouth.  
  
Ran barely knew himself anymore. He never imagined doing this…  
  
The sharp sound of a gunshot stole him back to reality. Worriedly, his eyes followed Kei as she took her ammunitions---a handgun and Ran's katana.   
  
Hastily she crept back beside him and handed him the katana. 'We had better get back to the mansion,' she told him gravely. 'Falke planned on trapping your friends there. Your wounds have almost healed, I'm sure we'd manage.'  
  
*  
  
Ran and Kei found a motorbike parked at the back of the inn. Without thinking of whom it belonged to, they took it, picked the lock and dashed away from the inn back to the mansion.  
  
Jin's men were already at their tail, firing incessantly at them. The bike swerved on the rough road, but remained undaunted. Kei was thankful though, it was early morning rush hour and many cars were on the main road besides them. It made pursuit harder, and she knew Jin was already getting frustrated. Some cars that blocked their way were shot accidentally by Jin's men, leaving behind a sight of smashed cars and flat tires.   
  
The forest where the mansion was withheld neared them. Ran veered sharply to the narrow path and raced to the mansion. An ominous feeling swept over him.   
  
As they approached the house Ran observed thick smoke-like gases inside the lobby and figures moving strangely inside. The rest of the Weiss seemed to be locked in the lobby and were being poisoned fast.  
  
Ran parked the motorcycle beside the mansion and sprinted to the back door, Kei behind him. Their pursuer was close, and was still shooting at them. Panting, they hid behind the mansion and rested their backs on the solid walls.  
  
'How do we get in?' Ran asked.  
  
'Follow me.'  
  
*  
  
True to Ran's suspicions, the manor was more tortuous than he imagined it to be. He reckoned it was a World War II hangout for Germans, and if his inklings were right, this mansion belonged to Falke, used for shelter during the war. The walls were not merely concrete, but bound by titanium, Kei informed him.  
  
Secret passages were abundant in the place, and Kei had conducted him to one. She had exposed an underground route through the basement door. They slipped through an unused dumbwaiter, which led to the manor's lobby. No words were spoken, but the feeling of dread hovered in the air between them.   
  
*How long would it be until they die?* Ran pondered anxiously as Kei steered the dumbwaiter to an opening at the entrance hall.  
  
The dumbwaiter screeched as it halted. It trembled momentarily before pulling to a stop, and for a second Ran thought it would crash. Kei then opened the latch for them to get out.  
  
Almost immediately after the bolt was released, suffocating air filled their nostrils. Ran coughed abrasively, covering his nose and mouth with a free hand. Kei held her breath as she glared ahead at the foggy surroundings for any sign of the rest of the Weiss.  
  
True enough, Yohji, Ken and Omi were sprawled on the floor, unconscious, their faces pale. Stunned, Ran hurried to his friends to check if they were still alive. He inspected Yohji first, noting his heartbeat was slow and could barely be heard.  
  
Ran's lungs tightened, perhaps because of the toxic ventilation drifting in their midst.  
  
Hurriedly, Kei had already begun dragging Omi to the dumbwaiter for an escape. Ran, following her lead, lugged Ken behind him, then Yohji.  
  
Somehow the dumbwaiter grew larger with the five of them inside it.  
  
The dumbwaiter creaked as it abandoned the venom of the lobby.  
  
*  
  
'Falke-sama, Kei and Aya are inside the mansion,' Jin reported through a transmitter he held.  
  
'Sou ka,' Falke said in reply. 'Do you have their current location?'  
  
'Yes, it seems they have freed the other members of Weiss, and now heading for the left wing.'  
  
'Ah, Kei is taking them to her room,' reckoned Falke. 'She had kept much of her medicines there. By now she would've suspected we used the drug to poison those rats. Traitor she is…' he muttered under her breath. 'Go, launch a full attack. Make sure you kill all of them and retrieve the formula. It is extremely vital to our growing business.' Then the line went static.  
  
* 


	13. Unerwidert [Unanswered]

CHAPTER 12 - Unerwidert [ Unanswered]  
  
'They boggle me,' Yohji said, wincing as Kei tended his wounds. They were in some sort of little girl's room, for there were dolls decorating the walls and the room was painted pink. Dim light shone from the lampshade on top of the side table, just enough for the five of them to see each other.  
  
Kei gave Yohji a puzzled look.  
  
'We would've died easily if they had planted a fire bomb in the lobby instead of poisoning us with that gas,' Yohji cleared out. They have been imprisoned in the baneful air for two hours and a half, and it had already caused damage in their external and internal organs. Wounds had already broken out in their upper torso, and their lungs were burning with pain. The medication Kei had prescribed helped greatly, that the ache had already subsided.  
  
'You've been test subjects,' Kei explained in a quiet voice. The four guys looked at her quizzically. 'It's the first time the poison was used for gas bombs. It had been proved unsuccessful though.'  
  
'Huh?' said Omi.  
  
Kei breathed out heavily. 'The poison was meant to be addictive, like it is in the pills. Since the gas wasn't, then it was unsuccessful. And besides, Falke didn't want to destroy his mansion just yet.'  
  
'I see…' Yohji said thoughtfully. 'So they wanted us to like the air we breathe and die peacefully? Are they merciful or what? Sometimes I don't get criminals if they are innately stupid or something.'  
  
'We've been stupid too, being caught in their trap like that,' Ken pointed out. 'It was too obvious, come to think of it.'  
  
'Tell me Kei,' Ran mumbled suddenly. 'You have been using Yohji to gather information about me haven't you?'  
  
Kei caught her breath.  
  
'Me?' Yohji looked at Ran, baffled.  
  
'Hai,' Kei disclosed quietly. 'Reina…she's been asking you questions about Aya right? Don't get me wrong; she's not part of the syndicate. She thought I liked Aya so she volunteered herself.'  
  
'Nani?' Yohji was startled. 'I'm getting confused. So you've been spying on Aya through me? Until now I cannot believe you are part of the bad guys.' He slapped his forehead dramatically.  
  
'Sou ka…' Ran stared out pensively through the window, at the darkening sky overhead. Rain was brewing in the distance.  
  
*  
  
'Jin-sama.' One of Jin's men approached him, and saluted. 'The gas bombs have been planted all over the mansion.'  
  
'Good, good,' Jin said, smirking. 'Discharge the bombs at my signal. That would lure them out.'  
  
*  
  
White gas streamed through the small opening of the door of Kei's room.  
  
'K'so,' Kei cursed under her breath. 'They have barely given us time to escape…'  
  
'Heartless bastards,' Yohji muttered.  
  
'I reckon the mansion is filled with gas already. We have to get out!' Omi exclaimed.   
  
'I personally don't get this battle,' Yohji said to himself. 'It seems attack from the back all the time...I just can't wait get my hands on them.'  
  
*  
  
Again Kei revealed a secret passageway, which was concealed behind the doll closet of her room. Small torches lit the stonewalls of the in-wall tunnel which put out automatically behind them as they passed through. The tunnel was steep, narrow and dark except for the light of the fire. They made their way through it cautiously as if expecting arrows darting their way.  
  
'Tell me Kei, how come you know a lot about this place?' Yohji asked, breaking the silence.  
  
'I live here,' she replied shortly. 'This is owned by Falke and used as a German sanctuary during the Second World War.'  
  
'No wonder,' Yohji mused out loud. 'So Falke…he is the leader right? Is he your father?'  
  
Kei remained quiet for a while. 'No.'  
  
'Then why do you live here?'   
  
'Enough questions Yohji,' Ken said sharply. 'We're here for our mission not to interview girls.'  
  
Yohji shrugged as he tagged behind the rest of the Weiss.   
  
*Why do I live here…* Kei contemplated on the question as they treaded through the passageway. *I refused to consider I am adopted…I wasn't his kid…he used me all along…*  
  
Finally they reached a door, which probably led outside the mansion. The thin air started to smell faintly of the poison gas that filled the manor's air. Kei pushed the door open warily. Cold dread seemed to freeze her veins. Somehow she felt something wrong behind the creaking door.   
  
'Welcome to our party.'  
  
Jin. Falke. They've been waiting for their arrival.  
  
Rain started to pour. 


	14. Der Kampf [The Combat]

CHAPTER 13 - Der Kampf [The Combat]  
  
'You should already have had figured out the only thing you've been doing is run around,' Falke told her, his eyes dancing with mocking amusement.   
  
Kei just stared at her former accomplices, too stunned to speak.  
  
'Really, Kei-chan,' continued Falke, tapping his palm with his baton's silver end. 'How many times have you used the secret passages of our fortress? Thrice? Don't you think that is a little too much for our guests to see?'  
  
'Falke-sama…' Kei stammered.  
  
'I am aware you are very hospitable to our guests,' Falke said grimly. 'It surprised me though, you've been too much to the point of betrayal.' He lifted his brows and tilted his head pointedly. He turned to Jin. 'Finish the rest. I'll take care of my daughter.'  
  
Jin's men immediately took action with Jin's flick of hand. He gestured them to attack in all directions, scattering the weakened Weiss about, away from Kei. Falke clutched Kei by the neck and dragged her deep into the forest.  
  
*  
  
Kei writhed in pain as Falke's arms circled tighter around her neck. She coughed, choking, scarcely breathing. She should never have had misjudged Falke's relentlessness. It would definitely cost her life.   
  
Brusquely he flung her to the wet, muddy, grass-covered ground. 'I believe this is the end of your disloyalty, my daughter,' he began scornfully.   
  
'I am not your daughter,' she told him indignantly, as she pulled herself up from the ground. Rain continued to fall down on her. It reminded her of the scenario ten years ago, when she killed her stepfather…and was found by Falke soaked in rainwater. 'You used me…'  
  
'Is this the gratitude I will get for helping you?' he asked, walking around Kei with a contemptuous façade.   
  
'I owe you nothing,' she spat back, glaring at Falke through the raindrops, which glistened on her lashes. 'I am already fully paid. In case you have forgotten, your business grew to my expense.'  
  
He lifted his brows and chuckled derisively. 'Oh is that so?'  
  
'The fact that you used me as an experiment to test the success of your new medicine?' she reminded him. 'And the fact I had to seduce your customers to bring growth to your market sales. I lost all innocence because of you.'  
  
He sprang toward her, dropping the baton, and they fell on the ground, his hand on her neck. He pressed her deeper to the mud as he strangled her mercilessly, eyes burning with ire. 'You were already tainted when I found you. How dare you accuse me of that.' He took out a pocketknife and cut a deep wound on her arm, which was trying frantically to take his hand off her neck.   
  
She screamed in pain, and had no other choice but to take her hand off his. Her face was slowly turning pale, and she was slowly losing air supply. Rain mingled with the blood flowing freely down her arm.  
  
Menacingly he loosened his grip on her collar. She coughed, feeling a sudden rush of air surging through her windpipe. 'You see this?' he hissed, showing her the gleaming knife. 'I can kill you anytime I choose.'  
  
'Then do it, I dare you,' she retorted.  
  
Enraged by her words, he prepared to thrust his blade through her naked neck, letting out a wild shriek.   
  
She reeled away from his just in time before the dagger hit her. Kicking him on his genitals, she lurched away from him and quickly regained composure. She breathed heavily, inspecting the stinging wound on her arm. 'You old bastard,' she cursed.  
  
His eyes burned as he lunged at her again, his knife aimed at her. She quickly evaded all his attempted hits that he grew frustrated and threw the dagger away. Panting he challenged her to a physical fight.  
  
He attacked quickly, kicking her on her stomach. She recoiled, but hit him back, punching him on the face. Staggering away from her, he wiped his cheek, stained with blood. A loose tooth fell from his mouth, stained with blood and saliva. He licked his bloodstained lips, and spat out red liquid.   
  
Angrily he assailed again, aiming for her long-injured leg. Expertly she avoided his blow and sailed through the air, striking him at the back of his neck with her feet. He hit the tree bark before him harshly. Blood trickled down from his nose.  
  
'Don't underestimate me Falke,' she hissed.  
  
'YOU don't underestimate me. I taught you everything you know,' he snapped.   
  
'Not everything Falke,' she corrected him. 'I am better than you are now. You're old and withered,' she told him in disgust. 'Do you realize how easy it would be for me to beat you?'  
  
*  
  
Meanwhile, the long withheld battle between Ran and Jin had begun. Ran had unsheathed his sword, and Jin did so as well. Their eyes glimmered with lust for bloodshed, as their katanas gleamed silver in the torrents of rain.  
  
Wordlessly, Jin assaulted, thrusting his sword toward Ran, who defended himself with his own blade. Their swords clicked and clanged noisily, the sound of metals mingling with the sound of their footsteps in the mud. Jin lunged his sword forward, aiming at Ran's side, but Ran had leapt to the air and kicked Jin at his back.  
  
Jin stumbled ahead, and collapsed to the ground unsteadily. Ran spun immediately, hurling his sword to dive into Jin's body. However, Jin rolled away just a couple of inches away from the sharp blade before it even gashed his skin. Quickly, he sprang up and was swiftly back on his feet. A defiant stare met Ran's eyes.  
  
At the same time, they both charged forward, their blades directed at their enemy. The swords clashed, and the two landed on the opposite sides of the clearing. Ran felt his leg's skin bare itself. He received a shallow wound from Jin's attack. Jin, however, was busy fingering the cut he got, which was in his upper arm.   
  
Droplets of blood flawed the grass, as red liquid blended with silver water.  
  
'So you have gotten together with Kei-chan,' Jin said disdainfully. 'What was she like on bed?' he asked, his breathing slowly returning to normal. 'Was she delicious?' He snickered, licking his lips. His blue eyes flashed madly.  
  
Ran responded with a glare.  
  
'I understand you know she WAS mine,' Jin went on. 'Until you came into the picture that is…what has she seen in you?' He scoffed. 'Perhaps I am in the position to tell you she is a whore. A goddamn whore for all I care…'   
  
Ran's eyes blazed. 'Enough cheeky talk,' Ran said in a no-nonsense tone. 'I suggest you use that talking to pray before you die.' 


	15. Das Blut [Blood]

I would like to take this chapter to thank all those who reviewed ^^ -grins- I luv them all!!! ^^  
  
  
  
CHAPTER 14 – Das Blut [Blood]  
  
* * *  
  
'Sensei!'  
  
Kei sprinted across the cobblestone path toward her master, Ikazuchi Taka. He stood quietly amongst the shrubs of the Japanese Rose, his eyes reflective as he squinted up at the bright sunshine overhead. He did not turn at the sound of Kei's voice but he nodded.  
  
'Don't call me sensei,' he told her. 'Otosama, otosama.' He bent over to her and smiled softly. 'Otosama.'  
  
'Oto---' she cut herself off. 'Sensei.' She sighed and slumped on the ground beside Taka, as she played with the petals of the roses. 'Sensei, sensei,' she repeated over and over again.  
  
He sat beside her and took her hands in his. The little girl looked up, her visage full of innocence. 'Why? Don't you want me to be your dad?'  
  
'Iie sensei,' she answered, naiveté pure in her hazel-brown eyes. A slight wind blew wisps of her curls over her young face. 'Otosama…they're all bad…'  
  
Taka looked down pensively, 'Sou ka…'  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
*  
  
Tears sprung to her eyes. Kei was holding Falke upon a tree, by his collar, clutching his neck. There were bruises on his face, and the whole of his body. His clothes were tattered, bloody and soaked in rain. Kei's appearance was a reflection of his own. However, she was in control of the situation for his life depended on her decision.  
  
Memories of her past flooded her mind. She dropped Falke to the ground and darted her eyes away from him. Her anger slowly subsided.  
  
*  
  
The combat was relentlessly going on in the other side of the woods near the mansion. Corpses decorated the muddy ground; several others were waiting to be added to this morbid portrait. Blood splattered upon the tree trunks, the manor's brick walls, the grass, and the clothes of the victims and predators alike.  
  
'Prepare to die!' one of the black-clad men yelled as he lunged toward Ken.  
  
In a swift motion, Ken thrust his claws into his prey's limbs, and hurled him to the ground. Another one of those cadavers scattered on the ground. The manor's milieu was slowly turning to a cemetery.  
  
Yohji was busy with his own quarries. Several were already lynched on the tree branches; others were grotesquely sprawled on the soil with that silver thread twisted around their necks. There was no sign of mercy in his cold eyes. He received hardly any wounds from the attacks. They should never have had underrated him.  
  
Meanwhile Omi was perched upon a tree, firing arrows at those who were too unlucky to receive a taste of his weapon. Most of the corpses, which lay on the Weiss's feet, were punctured by Omi's arrows. And some of the most unfortunate ones had to suffer slowly the pain as the arrow pierced through their body.  
  
However, a keen enough enemy saw Omi in his hiding place, and attacked.  
  
'Bombay!' Ken cried out, seeing this. It cost him a harsh blow from one of Jin's men. He recovered quickly and slashed his assailant with his bloodstained claws.  
  
Omi gasped and eluded his attacker. They both fell on the ground, one on top of the other. Desperately, Omi tried to get the attacker off him, thrusting forcefully one of his spare arrows into the attacker's forehead. He died immediately.  
  
*  
  
'I see you have not the heart to kill me,' Falke noticed, his hand on his neck. He massaged it to take off the pain.  
  
Kei did not answer. 'Usotsuki,' she muttered to herself.  
  
'I'm not a liar,' he said, hearing her words.  
  
'Shut up,' she cut him off. 'Go now. Run to where ever you pleased. I'm done with you.' If he received another blow from her, he would most definitely lose blood in a matter of minutes.  
  
'I see I have not taught you well,' Falke told her, as she began to walk away with a grim face. 'Pity for your enemies is a wrong move.'  
  
'And you suggest I kill you?' she asked, her back to him. Her tone was low and defiant. 'I am not like you Taka. Nor am I like my stepfather. I refuse to be.'  
  
Falke laughed darkly. 'You already are,' he reminded her. 'This sounds like a movie line but you should have killed me when you had a chance!'  
  
Before she knew it, she was on the ground, and Falke was strangling her once more. He was wrong. She had the heart to kill him. She had not the heart to fight anymore.  
  
*  
  
'Kei-san!'  
  
That voice was the only other sound she heard amid Falke's fierce shriek. Before she knew it, he dropped onto her, dead, the stone in his hand, which was supposed to be used to kill her, had already rolled away.  
  
An arrow pierced through his heart through the back.  
  
Running footsteps.  
  
'Kei-san daijoubu desu ka?' It was Omi and he was peering at her from above. He reeled Falk'e cadaver from her body and helped her get up. The rest of the Weiss stood before her, all but Aya.  
  
'Aya-kun?' she asked, bewildered. 'Jin-kun…iie…'  
  
The she sprinted out to the woods. 


	16. Der Fiale [Pinnacle]

To Barra Hana no Yume: Uhm I actually don't know Kite…yet [I'll research on that…hmm…] ^^ Hontou ne? Is it really like my fic? Ahh…sou ka… Anyway, arigatou ^^  
  
To Korosu: Looks like you've read all my fics! Arigatou gozaimasu ^^  
  
***  
  
CHAPTER 15 – Der Fiale [Pinnacle]  
  
'K'so…' Yohji muttered under his breath as the three of them ran after Kei who was non-stop dashing across the forest to find Ran. 'Damn she's fast.'  
  
'Yeah.' Even Ken was breathing hard.  
  
'I can't believe she's injured,' agreed Omi. 'One minute I saved her from that crazy wacko the other she was already meters before us.'  
  
'Why is she that concerned about Abyssinian anyway?' asked Ken, dodging a tree branch dangling along his way.  
  
'I don't know if you're blind Siberian,' replied Yohji. 'Isnt it obvious that girl has feelings for him? He's been spending time on her lately in case you didn't notice.'  
  
'She's the girl he saved from that car right?' asked Omi.  
  
'I'd say the spark began there,' Yohji remarked.  
  
'What if Abyssinian just used her all along?' Ken supposed. 'I mean, like he did with Sakura-chan. Jin was that guy who kissed her right? The one in the car?'  
  
'So he'd been spying on her while she was spying on him?' Yohji shook his head. 'He is just impossible to understand.'  
  
*  
  
* * *  
  
'Did you ever wonder why you exist?' Kei was asking as they sat on the benches by the racetrack.  
  
Ran blinked at Kei, who was smiling up at him. She looked like a little kid suddenly. 'Why do you ask?'  
  
She shrugged. 'No reason…' she replied in a faraway voice. Her eyes were distantly staring at nowhere.  
  
'Sometimes,' Ran answered.  
  
'I do,' she said. 'Everyday…you know I wonder why people have to go through so much pain to live.' Her face looked so calm, so sweet, so carefree, yet the wistfulness in her eyes told Ran she wasn't at all happy with life.  
  
'I don't know….' Ran's voice trailed off. He knew what she meant. He felt the same way too…  
  
'And I wonder why some people have to shatter other people's dreams…it's just unfair,' she kicked an invisible stone on the sandy ground and focused her attention on her feet. 'I wish people never knew I existed….'  
  
Then they stayed quiet for a while.  
  
'Look I have to go,' Ran said suddenly, standing up. 'The three might wonder where I am.' The excuse sounded lame. Ran needed time to think…away from her. She was distracting him enough.  
  
'Okay. ' She nodded at him as he walked away.  
  
Then he turned around and a faint smile seemed to hover on his lips. 'I don't know about existence…' he said slowly. 'Or people not knowing you exist…but I'm glad to know you do.'  
  
Ran could swear when he turned back around again to walk away, he saw her stunned image, and happiness replacing the rue in her eyes.  
  
* * *  
  
*  
  
Jin could almost taste triumph mingling with the raindrops on his lips. His rival was crouched on the mud, glaring at him. Jin smirked, and licked the blood on his mouth. He knew he was as wounded and gory as his rival, but he had the upper hand.  
  
Ran's blade had already broken off during one of Jin's attacks. The blow was a strong one that even Jin's katana had cracked itself. However Jin managed to slash another wound through Ran's already bleeding stomach, which had partially paralyzed him. And with one swift motion, he punched Ran severely on the face. A bruise darkened Ran's cheeks as he landed on the opposite side of the clearing. Ran could barely pick himself up from the ground.  
  
Staggering on his own weight, Jin took out a handgun concealed behind his coat. 'This time guns would settle this fight,' he sneered, aiming the pistol at Ran's direction.  
  
All Ran could do was stare. 'Finish it,' he said.  
  
Rain continued to pour steadily down on them.  
  
*  
  
Kei had no idea where to find Ran and Jin. She sprinted into the dense woods, soaked, filthy, bloody, wounded… She felt pain surging through her body, but she had no time to slow down.  
  
She heard the metallic sound of swords from her position. She ran towards it, breathing heavily. Whatever was happening, something told her it wasn't good.  
  
True to her premonitions, she found Jin, armed with a gun, aimed at----  
  
Ran. And he was defenseless at the other side of the clearing, staring boldly at Jin.  
  
The sharp sound of a gunshot was heard.  
  
'Aya-kun…'  
  
* 


	17. Klagelied [Elegy]

CHAPTER 16 – Klagelied [Elegy]  
  
'Kei-san!'  
  
Ran's voice was merely a whisper in the howls of the rain.  
  
*  
  
* * *  
  
'Taka sensei.'  
  
The little girl Kei smiled at the tall man before her.  
  
He smiled back.  
  
'Kei-chan.'  
  
'Arigatou gozaimasu sensei…'  
  
'Huh?'  
  
'Sayonara sensei…'  
  
'Where will you go?'  
  
'Okasama…'  
  
'Doushite?'  
  
'I miss her sensei…I thought I'd go to her grave…ja ne sensei…Onegai, please tell Jin-kun I'd be back soon…I want to play with him…'  
  
'Hai.'  
  
The tall man smiled.  
  
'Sayonara!' The little girl waved. 'Sayonara!'  
  
* * *  
  
Kei smirked flirtatiously. 'You want more?'  
  
The brawny man nodded, his eyes mischievously twinkling under the low- wattage lights. He lowered his lips to hers and kissed her intensely, lowering the straps of her red tank top.  
  
*This is for Falke-sama* thought Kei, swallowing all revulsion for this new client.  
  
* * *  
  
'What must I do sensei?'  
  
'Falke. Call me Falke. You are my new novice in this business. That is fine with you is it not?'  
  
'Jin-kun works here too?'  
  
'Hai.'  
  
'What must I do Falke-sama?'  
  
'You must get that man to buy our stocks. Do everything you can and anything he asks for you to do. Is that understood.'  
  
Kei nodded obediently, as she pulled down her short skirt with all strength she could muster.  
  
She was just fifteen this time…  
  
* * *  
  
'Aya-kun?' She smiled at him, panting, after she finished running half the track field.  
  
'That was great,' commented Ran. He actually smiled, but it was too faint to be seen.  
  
She smiled back. 'I wish I can do that forever…well I can't go on forever chasing my dreams.'  
  
'Dreams aren't meant to be chased,' he said in a faraway voice. 'They're made to be turned reality.'  
  
* * *  
  
Two strides more to go before reaching the end of the racetrack. She heard the crowd applauding loudly for her. Finally she was free…free from her past, which haunted her for a long, long time…  
  
Then Kei fell, feeling pain stabbing the side of her leg.  
  
*  
  
Into the arms of a stunned Ran.  
  
Ran's burning glare was focused on Jin, who was too petrified to move. The gun shook violently in his hands. He seemed to not have believed what had happened.  
  
From his distance Ran could read Jin's lips mumbling, 'iie…Kei-chan…' And these words unread…unheard…flitted out of his blood-drained lips, 'I never wanted you dead…it was all a lie…' And in the back of his head, more words swarmed…unsaid, 'how could you save this man's life…?'  
  
But she was dead.  
  
Ran barely noticed when Jin shot himself, although his eyes were locked on him. Defeated.  
  
His eyes shifted to Kei, in his arms, as if sleeping…  
  
A drop of tear rolled out of Ran's purple eyes, mingled with the rain, that it was visible no more…and no one knew he cried… 


End file.
